Tradition!

Much like Tevye was, I am a fan of tradition. There is a certain comfort in having a plan, and knowing that certain things will always happen at the same time, and in the same way. Growing up, some of my favorite traditions included the following:

Opening presents on Christmas Eve, after my younger sister's bathtime (Santa would often bring them while she was in the bath...lol!), followed by Christmas day dinner with turkey, lasagna, soup, salad, homemade bread, everything made from scratch and shared at Grandma's house with all of our cousins (and aunts and uncles, too).

Spending one glorious day at Cedar Point every year in the spring, usually a Wednesday, before school was even out! We would get up early, stop for a fast food breakfast to eat in the van, then drive to the park, where we would ride and laugh and play until the last ride closed. Then we'd buy salt-water taffy to take home. 

The Russo family reunion, on my mother's side, the first Sunday of every August at Coulby Park. We'd pack giant picnic baskets, and our family would often pick up Grandma and Grandpa (who didn't drive) and be their transportation for the day. There were cousins, aunts and uncles, second cousins, and great aunts and uncles. Sometimes we kids would pick blackberries, and we would always be free to roam the whole park...around the pond, to the playground and all the way over to the ball fields by the pool. And there always seemed to be baseball on the transistor radio in the shade under the big tree. 

As an adult, a wife and a mother, our pretty little family had it's own traditions. We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our little house almost every year (with no vegetables in the stuffing, at my hubby's and brother-in-law's request); we opened one gift on Christmas Eve, before Santa even arrived for the next day; and we continued going to Cedar Point each summer. Tradition punctuates so many of my happy memories!

I like tradition because I like to know what's coming around the bend, and I don't take to unexpected change as gracefully as I should. As I look back on the last year or so, I see that my traditional self has really been turned on its ear. Things have changed where I work, often suddenly and without warning. Things have changed in my family, some beautiful changes (most notably a beautiful new granddaughter), and some not so pretty. Things have changed for me physically, with the recent addition of that shiny new hip!

I am doing well, despite the changes, and I might even assert that I have handled many of the changes with a fair amount of grace. But this morning, as I looked toward my return to work on Monday, I found myself longing for some of the traditional things I've missed over the past year. So I started my day with a little laundry and a little visit to Bedford Falls (I never did get around to watching this movie last Christmas), as well as some comfort knitting (a new baby sweater for a little one that will join her family this fall).

Now that I've done that, I'm off to enjoy whatever adventure I find today. I'm down to just the cane now, and I even go without that around the house sometimes, so I think I'm up for whatever life throws at me...but we'll see. I wonder what new traditions are coming my way next...

Do you have any favorite traditions? I'd love to hear about them in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!